In many industrial situations manufacturers use materials in their production operations which they obtain in large shipping containers such as boxes, drums or barrels. In some cases the shipping containers are delivered one or more on a pallet to facilitate handling and storage. The materials in the shipping containers may be in fluid form, i.e., liquids or free flowing solids such as granules or powders.
The manufacturer is faced with the problem of transferring the contents of the shipping containers into another container such as a bin or reactor. This is especially a problem in the petroleum refining and chemical industries.
The transfer of the contents of one container into another container may be done pneumatically by pumping (sometimes with air or another fluid) the contents out of one container into a second container or it may be done by dumping the contents from the first container into the second container. The dumping requires opening the top of the first container, lifting the first container over the entrance to the second container and tipping the first container to force the contents from the first container into the second container. The shipping containers are often heavy and require mechanized lifting devices capable of lifting, positioning and tipping containers, then returning the empty shipping containers to their original positions.
The present invention is an improved container dumping apparatus and method of emptying the contents of a container or of a pallet of containers into another container.